"There is only one road, one bridge across the country"
January 11, 2016 7:58 AM   Subscribe

The Trans-Canada Highway spans the length of Canada with a route over 8000 kilometers long. This weekend, a new bridge crosssing the Nipigon buckled, severing the only road link between Eastern and Western Canada.
posted by thecjm (126 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite
 
It looks like one lane is now open so traffic is moving, but slowly. The only other option is a 12 hour detour through the US
posted by thecjm at 8:02 AM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


the only road link between Eastern and Western Canada

I can think of at least five ways to drive between BC and Alberta.
posted by Sternmeyer at 8:03 AM on January 11, 2016 [22 favorites]


I had to google it myself to figure out where it was: http://ca.epodunk.com/images/locatorMaps/on/ON_2004684.gif
posted by arabelladragon at 8:05 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


I would have thought there would be at least some alternative roads up there -- backroads, not highways -- but unless they are logging roads of the sort Google doesn't map -- and those have to be pretty tiny since Google maps a lot of 'unnamed roads, Thunder Bay district' up there -- it seems like it's literally not possible. Most of the roads are stopped by the river.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:08 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


arabelladragon - It's up there on the north shore of Lake Superior. If you were going westbound, the only detour would be to double back 600km to Sault Ste. Maire and cross into the US .

Avoiding this bridge means you're having to circumnavigate Lake Superior.
posted by thecjm at 8:09 AM on January 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


"This is the one place in Canada where there is only one road, one bridge across the country."

I suspect the people of PEI would like to have a word with this guy.

Also, let me be the first to say sing it: "One warm line, through a land so WIDE AND SAVAGE..."
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:15 AM on January 11, 2016 [17 favorites]


How's your socialized medicine now?
posted by OmieWise at 8:16 AM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


It could have been worse. There could have been a moose on the road.
posted by srboisvert at 8:16 AM on January 11, 2016 [12 favorites]


I live in Brooklyn NY and I sometimes think about how it is likely -- to the point of statistically certain -- that one of the many crossing into or out of Manhattan is going to have a catastrophic failure in my lifetime.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:21 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


I suspect the people of PEI would like to have a word with this guy.

At least they still have a ferry
posted by thecjm at 8:22 AM on January 11, 2016 [7 favorites]


Paging Pierre Burton - we're going to need some more spikes.
posted by GuyZero at 8:22 AM on January 11, 2016


Looks like Scott Walker's worst nightmare is about to come true!
posted by Sys Rq at 8:22 AM on January 11, 2016 [8 favorites]


It could have been worse. There could have been a moose on the road.

The moose would have made a sturdier bridge than those guys...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 8:22 AM on January 11, 2016


"This is the one place in Canada where there is only one road, one bridge across the country."

I suspect the people of PEI would like to have a word with this guy.


I live in Newfoundland - not only is the Trans-Canada highway across the island only one route for the ENTIRE ISLAND, part of the "Highway" is a 10-hour ferry ride.
posted by Paladin1138 at 8:24 AM on January 11, 2016 [14 favorites]


I never expected such a divided Canada under Trudeau.
posted by Kabanos at 8:26 AM on January 11, 2016 [66 favorites]


I was just about to leave on a cross Canada trip, too. BTW, the detour through the states (via Sault St. Marie, up past Fargo to Winnipeg) is actually about a half hour shorter according to Google maps. I was adamant, however, about taking the Canadian route, weather be damned. Looks like winter played a trump card, eh?
posted by CynicalKnight at 8:28 AM on January 11, 2016


I feel bad for the people and I say this as someone who's been through sudden isolation/huge inconvenience a few times when road or a bridge became unavailable for some reason. But as a connoisseur of engineering hubris meets physical laws and/or nature AND geographical oddities, I find this absolutely delightful.
posted by barchan at 8:32 AM on January 11, 2016 [6 favorites]


CynicalKnight - not everyone wants to deal with border crossings. And I don't know about you, but I tend to keep my passport at home unless I'm travelling internationally. For a lot of people on that road, taking a route through another country is not an option.
posted by thecjm at 8:39 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Is the old bridge in disrepair or something? It seems unwise to demolish it if this area is a single point of failure for the Canadian highway system. Wouldn't it be good to have some redundancy? What if the new bridge failed catastrophically?
posted by cosmic.osmo at 8:43 AM on January 11, 2016


They laughed when I told them I wanted to drive a 1969 Dodge Charger across Canada.

Who's laughing now? YEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAWWWWWW
posted by Sunburnt at 8:43 AM on January 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


You'da thunk that in this age of smart phones, instant movie downloads and virtual reality, we could have finally retired GEOGRAPHY.
posted by sammyo at 8:45 AM on January 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


construction administration and technical oversight on the bridge construction was provided by Hatch Mott MacDonald. They have completely removed that bridge from their "projects" pages. Here's a Google cache of the page they removed. Engineering for the bridge was done by MMM Group.

In 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, a suspension bridge, collapsed, the result of unforeseen harmonic oscillations caused by only moderate (40 mph) winds. As a result, many other suspension bridges were reinforced to prevent similar disasters. The Nipigon collapse apparently took place under high gusty wind conditions. It will be interesting to see if there was an unforeseen wind risk at Nipigon and whether other cable-stayed bridges will now have to be re-engineered to better withstand high winds.
posted by beagle at 8:52 AM on January 11, 2016 [9 favorites]


Looks like they've got one lane reopened.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:52 AM on January 11, 2016


I live in Newfoundland

Go IceCaps!
posted by the quidnunc kid at 8:52 AM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


Is the old bridge in disrepair or something?

They are building a second bridge (presumably where the old bridge was), intending to give some redundancy, as well as to increase capacity. According to this local story, the old bridge is in the middle of demolition.

I've readc onflicting reports of this being caused by either wind or thermal contraction due to the cold. It will be interesting to see what the culprit is.
posted by cardboard at 8:54 AM on January 11, 2016


Related (maybe?): I visited Alaska this past Summer and stopped at the Visitor Center for the E. L. Patton bridge over the Yukon River. One of the plaques said that in anticipation of the extreme cold, the bridge was engineered to be able to expand & contract almost two feet lengthwise.

Wikipedia backs this up.

I'll never again be surprised when I hear about a bridge failing in the Winter.
posted by bricksNmortar at 9:02 AM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


Population of Canada: 35 million

Population of California: 38 million

Size of Canada: 3.8 million square miles

Size of California: 163,000 square miles
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:06 AM on January 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


I've read conflicting reports of this being caused by either wind or thermal contraction due to the cold. It will be interesting to see what the culprit is.

For Nipigon, it's been pretty mild the last week or so, with temperatures between -1C and -15C. That's positively tropical for this area in January, and although I'm no engineer, I doubt that this is wildly outside of the design temperatures that (ought to) have been taken into account. If it was cold-related, then someone was waaaay off on the sorts of temperatures this bridge should withstand.

I was just about to leave on a cross Canada trip, too. BTW, the detour through the states (via Sault St. Marie, up past Fargo to Winnipeg) is actually about a half hour shorter according to Google maps. I was adamant, however, about taking the Canadian route, weather be damned. Looks like winter played a trump card, eh?

It's an absolutely beautiful drive, and would recommend wholeheartedly that people who've never been to the actual north of Ontario (Muskoka is NOT "up north") do it sometime.

This is a big deal up there (my inlaws are just east of that bridge, and a lot of the supply chains that bring, food, gas, etc. to their fairly isolated community originate in points west of there, so this is going to cause all sorts of problems).

Talking to them yesterday, they said friends attempting a drive to Thunder Bay reported back that there was a shit ton of 18 wheelers backed up.

It will be interesting to see if there was an unforeseen wind risk at Nipigon

Having travelled that stretch in good weather and bad, my anecdata is: it's fuckin' WINDY there, man.

Avoiding this bridge means you're having to circumnavigate Lake Superior.

IN WINTER. If you've never driven the north shore of Superior in winter, it's scenic but treacherous.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:06 AM on January 11, 2016 [8 favorites]


I was adamant, however, about taking the Canadian route, weather be damned.

The Trans-Canada north shore of Superior is almost always the longer route than a US transit, especially so if you're coming from southern Ontario.

But you don't get to see the tree and rocks, the rocks and trees any other route.
posted by bonehead at 9:08 AM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


it's scenic* but treacherous.

* If rocks and trees are your sort of thing, that is.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:11 AM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


Population of Canada: 35 million

Population of California: 38 million


Hmm, so Canada is the new California then . . .
posted by flug at 9:18 AM on January 11, 2016


Now everyone will have to go through the Panama Canal.
posted by kiltedtaco at 9:18 AM on January 11, 2016 [11 favorites]


Looking at Google Maps, is that a railway bridge just south of the road bridge?
posted by HuronBob at 9:22 AM on January 11, 2016


Looking at Google Maps, is that a railway bridge just south of the road bridge?

Yes.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:22 AM on January 11, 2016


Shoulda taken a canoe.
posted by clawsoon at 9:23 AM on January 11, 2016


Too Big To Sail?
posted by ethansr at 9:23 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


For those currently enjoying the Engineering fail porn, here's a picture of the concrete blocks holding down the bridge deck right now.
posted by bonehead at 9:25 AM on January 11, 2016 [30 favorites]


Isn't there a nearby railway bridge that could be used to ferry cars across using an autotrain setup?
posted by humanfont at 9:28 AM on January 11, 2016


Bonehead, I don't know why that made me laugh out loud but it did. Maybe it's because I can perfectly imagine the engineers' conversation about putting those blocks out there.

(Those poor people on the bridge look cold.)
posted by barchan at 9:34 AM on January 11, 2016


I live in Brooklyn NY and I sometimes think about how it is likely -- to the point of statistically certain -- that one of the many crossing into or out of Manhattan is going to have a catastrophic failure in my lifetime.

During the runup to Hurricane Sandy, there was such a closing (for preventative means rather than catastrophic - Bloomberg closed all the bridges to be safe).

It was the only time in my life I ever had to call in marooned to work.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:35 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


As expected, The Simpsons already did this.

C'mon reality, it's past the time for some originality!
posted by tommasz at 9:36 AM on January 11, 2016


(Those poor people on the bridge look cold.)

These are people who will punch you in the face if you say: "Pffft. Wind chill's not really a thing, is it?"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:38 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


That picture of the Jersey Barriers holding down the bridge really summarizes the Canadian experience for me.
posted by ethansr at 9:40 AM on January 11, 2016


For Nipigon, it's been pretty mild the last week or so, with temperatures between -1C and -15C. That's positively tropical for this area in January, and although I'm no engineer, I doubt that this is wildly outside of the design temperatures that (ought to) have been taken into account. If it was cold-related, then someone was waaaay off on the sorts of temperatures this bridge should withstand.

It seems like maybe there's a reason it's the first cable-stayed bridge in Ontario? Like maybe it's just a terrible idea to suspend a bridge in such a way that the contraction of cables in normal winter conditions makes the road curl up like a snap bracelet?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:41 AM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


"This is the one place in Canada where there is only one road, one bridge across the country."

I suspect the people of PEI would like to have a word with this guy.


Whenever the weather caused the ferries to stop running as a kid the CBC radio announcer would always make a point of announcing that the "mainland was cut off from the island."
posted by Space Coyote at 9:53 AM on January 11, 2016 [22 favorites]


Those poor people on the bridge look cold.

They do, but for the area this is pretty mild weather. It hit -23C last week apparently, but that's really not a big deal. Which is concerning; if the bridge can't take this, what's it going to do when it dips down into honest to god brass balls weather?
posted by bonehead at 9:55 AM on January 11, 2016




if the bridge can't take this

Heh, bonehead, if I was a smartass living in Canada I'd send a bunch of those BRIDGE ICES BEFORE ROAD signs to the engineers in question and ask if they were aware of how that works. (Or whatever the Canadian equivalent is.)
posted by barchan at 10:06 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


BRIDGES FREEZE BEFORE ROAD, fwiw.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:10 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Population of Canada: 35 million

Population of California: 38 million


Fun Fact: The most southernly part of Canada is further south than the most northernly part of California.
posted by fairmettle at 10:15 AM on January 11, 2016 [13 favorites]


Google Maps seems to suggest that there is an alternate route taking back roads around the north shore of Lake Nipigon.

I would not want to be the one to test if this route is indeed feasible, let alone feasible in January.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 10:18 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


That northern detour goes right through Wendigo country. Pass on that.
posted by thecjm at 10:22 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Google Maps seems to suggest that there is an alternate route taking back roads around the north shore of Lake Nipigon.

I would not want to be the one to test if this route is indeed feasible, let alone feasible in January.


Here is a musket, a ration of lard and flour, and a canoe. See you next spring, mon ami. I'll ask the Jesuits to pray for you.

Isn't there a nearby railway bridge that could be used to ferry cars across using an autotrain setup?

Actually...

The original Nipigon River Bridge was opened in 1937. Prior to this automobiles had to be transported by rail or ferried across the river. This bridge remained in service until 1974, when it was replaced by a new structure with wider traffic lanes.


From a link in the above link, pictures of the 1974 bridge and remnants of the 1937 bridge.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:26 AM on January 11, 2016 [9 favorites]


thecjm:
"It looks like one lane is now open so traffic is moving, but slowly."
So which way is that lane going? East or west?

Because if we use a model where we view Canadians as a loose bunch of excited atoms following random paths of Brownian motion then this bridge will act like a quantum ratchet. Every so often a Canadian will happen to follow that lane and cross the bridge. But then they can't return. So, logically, if that closure lasts long enough all Canadians will be on one side of the country and the other half will be completely empty.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 10:30 AM on January 11, 2016 [38 favorites]


Presumably it goes both ways, with a worker flipping a STOP/SLOW sign every now and then.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:32 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Also, yeah, assuming there even is a road around Lake Nipigon, and assuming it's clear and paved and everything, that's still an eleven-hour detour through the middle of nowhere, which basically means running out of gas and freezing to death in the wilderness instead of waiting a few minutes to get through a traffic jam.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:36 AM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


, that's still an eleven-hour detour through the middle of nowhere, which basically means running out of gas and freezing to death in the wilderness instead of waiting a few minutes to get through the traffic jam.

Soooo.... January rush hour in Ottawa then?
posted by GuyZero at 10:37 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


with a worker flipping a STOP/SLOW sign every now and then.

Maxwell's demon!
posted by kiltedtaco at 10:37 AM on January 11, 2016 [20 favorites]


Presumably it goes both ways, with a worker flipping a STOP/SLOW sign every now and then.

Well, if one considers the gravity anomaly map of Canada that might affect the outcome.

Also what's the viscosity of an average Canadian?
posted by barchan at 10:44 AM on January 11, 2016 [6 favorites]


I was just about to leave on a cross Canada trip, too. BTW, the detour through the states (via Sault St. Marie, up past Fargo to Winnipeg) is actually about a half hour shorter according to Google maps. I was adamant, however, about taking the Canadian route, weather be damned. Looks like winter played a trump card, eh?

We live in Manitoba and my wife's extended family are all in the Sault St. Marie area. The impression I get is that the America route is a a lot less hassle (Even including the border-crossing), faster, and safer. We drove Canada-side from SSM to Winnipeg once, and it was a harrowing story of survival. Due to navigational errors and fuel needs, we were almost trapped in Dubreuilville! Dubreuilville! Suck it, Revenant.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:45 AM on January 11, 2016 [8 favorites]


Also, yeah, assuming there even is a road around Lake Nipigon, and assuming it's clear and paved and everything, that's still an eleven-hour detour through the middle of nowhere, which basically means running out of gas and freezing to death in the wilderness instead of waiting a few minutes to get through the traffic jam.

Would add that cell signal up around there is spotty at best (and that's on the Trans Canada, let alone some backroad), so there's a good chance calling for help will be a big negatory, good buddy. Here's one bustling metropolis you would pass through on that route. See that logging clearcut? That's the only reason this place even exists. They may or may not have gas available. The gas station may or may not be open when you roll into town.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:48 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


> Also what's the viscosity of an average Canadian?

Depends on whether they prefer Tim's or Robin's.
posted by scruss at 10:53 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


This is very fine, in the engineering and geography and Oh Canada departments, and the "no really, when we say no roads we mean no roads, you southerners do not get just how much of Canada is north of the thin strip of settlement hugging the border" department.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:54 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


I've been on the road up the east side of Lake Nipigon as far as Armstrong. It's a provincial highway and is presumably ploughed -- I can't remember if it's gravel or blacktop. The rest of that route doesn't appear on the provincial highway map and may very well be impassable in the winter.
posted by irrelephant at 10:56 AM on January 11, 2016


Presumably it goes both ways, with a worker flipping a STOP/SLOW sign every now and then.

Unless that worker freezes in place, in which case Hairy Lobster's scenario plays out.

Also what's the viscosity of an average Canadian?

At room temperature, or standing-on-a-windswept-highway-in-Northern-Ontario-in-January temperature (let's say -20C for the sake of argument)?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:06 AM on January 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


You don't need a road. You just need a hard freeze so the muskeg is solid and won't swallow you. And a layer of snow is a bonus, because it lessens the friction for your toboggan. What you guys forget is that winter was the traveling season up here, before cars, because no black flies and the ground goes solid and the snow levels it out.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:08 AM on January 11, 2016 [10 favorites]


Also what's the viscosity of an average Canadian?

At room temperature, or standing-on-a-windswept-highway-in-Northern-Ontario-in-January temperature (let's say -20C for the sake of argument)?


Isn't -20C pretty much Canadian room temperature already?
posted by Etrigan at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Fun Fact: The most southernly part of Canada is further south than the most northernly part of California.

Wait, what?

No, really. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat. Is that based on the Mercator or Peters projection?

My head is breaking.
posted by ApathyGirl at 11:11 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Hey, I never said the route I found would be a good idea. I just wanted to challenge the claim that this bridge is the only road link separating two halves of Canada.

Also, browsing the pictures tagged along the route, the portion of the route that looked the most sketchy to me actually looks reasonably decent, and the river crossing I wasn't sure was actually there looks like it existed at least as recently as October 2013.

† In only the most technical sense, of course.
‡ For certain values of decent. Offer void November to May.

posted by [expletive deleted] at 11:12 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Fun Fact: The most southernly part of Canada is further south than the most northernly part of California.

Wait, what?

No, really. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat. Is that based on the Mercator or Peters projection?

My head is breaking.


It's just Pelee Island. They make wine there.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:12 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Isn't -20C pretty much Canadian room temperature already?

If there's anything I've learned from Canada threads it's that everyone forgets Vancouver. So maybe a tad warmer, yeah?

ApathyGirl, it's based on latitude. Additionally, Michigan is ENTIRELY north of the most southern point of Canada.
posted by barchan at 11:13 AM on January 11, 2016


Fun Fact: The most southernly part of Canada is further south than the most northernly part of California.

Wait, what?

No, really. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat. Is that based on the Mercator or Peters projection?


That's based on latitude. Note the little spike under Michigan there -- you can tell that it's just a skoonch farther south than the top of California.
posted by Etrigan at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Many Canadian-educated engineers wear an iron ring on the pinkie finger of their dominant hand. (Originally the ring was always made of iron; these days most of them are made of stainless steel.) The ring is presented at a ceremony at the end of their post-secondary degree. The ring is a reminder of their professional obligation to the highest standards of their profession. Although it is not true, many people believe that the iron for the rings was extracted from "the steel of a beam from the first Quebec Bridge, which collapsed during construction in 1907. Seventy-five construction workers died in the collapse which was attributed to poor planning and design by the overseeing engineers."

Canada has a long history of civil engineering, including some tragic failures, which we forget at our peril.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2016 [20 favorites]


I was just about to leave on a cross Canada trip, too. BTW, the detour through the states (via Sault St. Marie, up past Fargo to Winnipeg) is actually about a half hour shorter according to Google maps. I was adamant, however, about taking the Canadian route, weather be damned. Looks like winter played a trump card, eh?

Oh, taking the I-29 north to Winnipeg? The Pembina border is a super mellow crossing. It's already filled with Saskatchewanians going home from a visit to the Grand Forks Target (motto: "Our bosses fucked the Canadian expansion badly but we do appreciate the 90% of our business that comes from y'all anyway!"). That stretch of the US and Canada border is remarkably same-same, either side of the border you're in, so you could pretend to be in a new southern province easily enough.

If I had to choose between harrowing logging trails with uncertain gas stations or having to cross into the US and go back via Pembina, I'd totally pick Pembina.
posted by librarylis at 11:19 AM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Many Canadian-educated engineers wear an iron ring.

This US-educated one got his after passing the EIT test.
posted by achrise at 11:22 AM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Population of Canada: 35 million

Population of California: 38 million



Population of the Greater Tokyo Area: 37 million
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:26 AM on January 11, 2016 [9 favorites]


There's nothing much of value east of Llyodminster anyway.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:27 AM on January 11, 2016


Also what's the viscosity of an average Canadian?

Too many variables - when was the last time they had maple syrup? Last serving of poutine?
posted by nubs at 11:29 AM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


The Trans-Canada north shore of Superior is almost always the longer route than a US transit, especially so if you're coming from southern Ontario.

But you don't get to see the tree and rocks, the rocks and trees yt any other route.


Given the route in question, I would have gone for this for the musical link. Rocks and trees, trees and rocks: if you've driven 17, you've seen lots.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:31 AM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


The Google Street Views of the connections from the Trans Canada Hwy to the detour show what look to be a single lane gravel road. It looks to be well maintained, but I suspect that the 10 hour detour could end up being a several day detour with no cell phone reception, no regular places to stop for gas and many confused moose blocking the path. It would be a fun detour in the summer, but potentially deadly in the winter. And probably not an option for trucks, RVs and other large vehicles.
posted by ensign_ricky at 11:34 AM on January 11, 2016


fairmettle:
"Fun Fact: The most southernly part of Canada is further south than the most northernly part of California."
Oh, you must be referring to the cubicle next to mine here in my Los Angeles workplace. It has a giant Canadian flag in it. Presumably that makes it Canadian territory. I mean, it is a really big flag.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 11:34 AM on January 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


> My head is breaking.

Geez, you really didn't take that well. I hope you're better prepared the day someone tells you that Reno, NV is west of Los Angeles, CA.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:56 AM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


California *is* north of Canada. (I had to check Google Maps.)

latitude of northern border of California: 42.00 degrees north
latitude of Point Pelee National Park, Ontario, Canada: 41.96 degrees north

Wonders will never cease.
posted by haiku warrior at 11:56 AM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


Hmm, this happened near a town in north Ontario? Kind of makes you feel helpless sometimes.

Helpless, helpless, helpless.
posted by A dead Quaker at 11:58 AM on January 11, 2016 [18 favorites]


Many Canadian-educated engineers wear an iron ring on the pinkie finger of their dominant hand. (
I assumed you were going to go on and say "when the ring constricts in the cold so much that the pinkie finger falls asleep, it's time to bring the workers inside."
posted by stevis23 at 12:02 PM on January 11, 2016 [8 favorites]


From the article: "Ashley Littlefield, who lives in nearby Dorion, Ont., witnessed the failure Sunday afternoon as she was driving with her husband. 'As we turned [onto the highway], we saw the whole bridge — a kind of big gust of wind came underneath it and blew it up and then it came back down,' she said, adding it shifted by about half a metre.

'We watched two pickup trucks come flying over. … They didn't see us, didn't hear my horn honking, and they flew over and smashed their front ends down on the cement.'

Littlefield said her husband got out to stop traffic before police arrived about 30 minutes later."

posted by bentley at 12:05 PM on January 11, 2016


When working at a formerly large American timber company, I had a co-worker based at a mill somewhere in Alberta (or Saskatchewan, don't remember which). She amused us all by saying there were essentially two seasons in her town: Winter and Construction. With a little Mud in between.

Also, damn, cable stay bridges are pretty, even when they're broken.
posted by lhauser at 12:14 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Highway 61 between Duluth and Thunder Bay is another road that if anything goes wrong on it, a bunch of people and goods are going to be stuck. The next border crossing is over in International Falls/Fort Frances, pretty far to the west, and those roads are also Not Fun in the winter.

Wind and cable-stayed bridge failure are nothing new around these parts--this is a pedestrian bridge in Minneapolis that vibrated apart in February 2012.
posted by Electric Elf at 12:34 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


I suspect the people of PEI would like to have a word with this guy.

At least they still have a ferry


And the ferry has a Cows outlet on it!
posted by Chrysostom at 12:38 PM on January 11, 2016


No, really. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat. Is that based on the Mercator or Peters projection?

Neither. When you show latitude on Mercator or Peters, the straight horizontal latitude lines are not equally spaced, because of the distortions of the projections. You need a globe to really see it.

Then you realize that Seattle is farther north than Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:39 PM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


The trick with cable stay bridges is that you have to say "stay" very firmly, since cables aren't good at following directions, and are easily distracted by winds.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:44 PM on January 11, 2016 [8 favorites]


Disclaimer: I'm not a structural engineer.

The Pluto Gangsta: "I live in Brooklyn NY and I sometimes think about how it is likely -- to the point of statistically certain -- that one of the many crossing into or out of Manhattan is going to have a catastrophic failure in my lifetime."

This wasn't a catastrophic failure.

Sys Rq: "It seems like maybe there's a reason it's the first cable-stayed bridge in Ontario? Like maybe it's just a terrible idea to suspend a bridge in such a way that the contraction of cables in normal winter conditions makes the road curl up like a snap bracelet?"

It's the first cable-stayed bridge in Ontario, because it's a relatively new and expensive kind of bridge to build.

From what I've read so far, it isn't exactly clear what failed, but the fact that it's reopened suggests that the bridge itself doesn't seem to have been seriously damaged as a result. Bridges are designed to allow for a certain amount of swaying and movement (as long as that movement is damped, and doesn't set up a harmonic like the Tacoma Narrows bridge).

Large suspension bridges allow for a tremendous amount of deflection and flexing (10-20 feet in each direction). Hitting the limits of those tolerances would be terrifying for anybody on the bridge, but the bridge probably wouldn't collapse (although the road might heave like it did here!).

It's very possible that the bridge's engineers considered this to be an acceptable side-effect of a "100-year" wind event or something like that. The bridge is still standing, everybody got off of it, and it partially-reopened after a brief closure.
posted by schmod at 12:44 PM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


hey you guys will never guess what is south of detroit
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:53 PM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


A station for midnight trains that go anywhere, duh.
posted by Etrigan at 12:56 PM on January 11, 2016 [20 favorites]


It's also the place where the jams go to after they are kicked out.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:59 PM on January 11, 2016 [6 favorites]


hey you guys will never guess what is south of detroit

Nicaragua?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:03 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


The bridge is still standing, everybody got off of it, and it partially-reopened after a brief closure.

Still, reopening it that quickly seems like a pretty gutsy move on somebody's part. That pile of Jersey barriers weighs over 260 tons (101 barriers at 5300 pounds). And it doesn't fix whatever was causing vertical motion at the expansion joint which is only supposed to permit horizontal motion.
posted by beagle at 1:09 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Soooooo not Wawa this year... weird.
posted by mrgroweler at 1:11 PM on January 11, 2016


Actually we just crossed that bridge before the holidays and use that route 10x a year.
posted by mrgroweler at 1:12 PM on January 11, 2016


The most southernly part of Canada is further south than the most northernly part of California.

And Rome!
posted by Ian A.T. at 1:14 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Still, reopening it that quickly seems like a pretty gutsy move on somebody's part. That pile of Jersey barriers weighs over 260 tons (101 barriers at 5300 pounds). And it doesn't fix whatever was causing vertical motion at the expansion joint which is only supposed to permit horizontal motion.

Dire stopgap necessity, most likely.

All joking aside, if you're someone in, say, Terrace Bay who has an appointment with an oncologist in Thunder Bay tomorrow that you've been waiting a month for, you're going to need to get there.

If you're someone who hasn't travelled in years and doesn't have a passport, then the US route is not an option, added distance and poor road conditions aside.

Also, small communities up and down the north shore of Superior have their fuel oil or propane for home heating (not to mention their gasoline and groceries) trucked in. Those 18-wheelers need to get through at some point, so a calculated short-term risk is needed until a permanent fix to whatever is ailing the bridge is found.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:18 PM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Is this where we mention that Paris, France is further north than Fargo, North Dakota?

(Behold the power of the North Atlantic drift and the Gulf stream.) (Link.)
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:19 PM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


The most southernly part of Canada is further south than the most northernly part of California.

And Rome!


The southernmost part of Canada is south of all of metropolitan France (the "mainland" part, not the overseas parts).
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 1:21 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


California *is* north of Canada.
South of Mexico, too.
posted by Hatashran at 1:27 PM on January 11, 2016


[expletive deleted] - Re: that alternate northern route around Lake Nipigon, the fact that it could take almost 11 hours to go just under 270 miles (433 km) should suggest how "nice" a route that is.

It's also good to remember that folks who live east of the bridge no longer even have passenger rail service to use to get to bigger centres like Thunder Bay west of the bridge.
posted by milnews.ca at 1:38 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


My post above: construction administration and technical oversight on the bridge construction was provided by Hatch Mott MacDonald. They have completely removed that bridge from their "projects" pages. Here's a Google cache of the page they removed. Engineering for the bridge was done by MMM Group.

Just for the record, they have put that page back online. Here, and here. However, if you compare that page with the Google cache of the earlier page, you'll see that the page has been rewritten considerably, perhaps for CYA purposes. [That cache may change soon to the updated page.] For example, there is now a careful statement describing HMM's role in the project, which was not there before. They make it clear that someone else designed the bridge, but that they did, apparently, check the designer's math.
posted by beagle at 1:46 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


hey you guys will never guess what is south of detroit

Nicaragua?


Close...Windsor, which is like Nicaragua with street lights.
posted by rocket88 at 1:58 PM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


Also what's the viscosity of an average Canadian?

Dunno, but, unfortunately, the Hatch Mott MacDonald engineering department seems to be a bit thicker than required.
posted by bonehead at 2:02 PM on January 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


beagle: Internet Archive seems to have captured the page before it was edited. Except for the photos, it seems to be the same as the Google cache.
posted by bentley at 2:16 PM on January 11, 2016


Every country on earth just updated their "How to cripple Canada before invasion" planning. Gambia, Iceland, Philippines, Tuvalu, Estonia, New Zealand etc.....
posted by lstanley at 2:19 PM on January 11, 2016


For those currently enjoying the Engineering fail porn, here's a picture of the concrete blocks holding down the bridge deck right now.

Looking that that, and on how those blocks could be useful, I suspect what happened is stays shrank too much and pulled the roadway up.

This is a rod-stayed bridge. The strength member of the bridge ate the two (they may be two halves a single) vertical pier in the middle. To hold up the road, rods run from the edge of the roadway to the pier. So the force of holding the road (and cars) up goes up and in on the rod stays, and then down the ground via the pier.

If the rods contracted too much (say, from the cold), they would be pulling the road up too much, and the failure seems to show that -- the roadway on the bridge has been pulled higher, separating in from the roadway on the approach embankment -- and if the temperature across all the rods was equal, as is likely the case, the longer rods would contract a longer distance. This doesn't mean that the bridge is unstable, though it's pretty useless as a highway bridge like that. You can adjust the rods somewhat (those collars near the roadway are probably turnbuckles) but the issue here is what happens when it warms up? If you loosen them some now, when it gets warm and the rods expand (which means they'll get longer) you might see the opposite problem -- the bridge roadway sagging to low.

It seems clear that the spilt happened at an expansion joint, which is located at a logical place -- the interface between the bridge road deck and the approaching road. If the road is on solid ground or a solid embankment, it'll warm/cool at a very different rate than the bridge, which means the bridge deck needs to be able to handle expansion/contraction.

That's true, BTW, in almost all bridge decks. Thermal expansion/contraction is a very big deal, and the bridge that does not handle that correct fails within the year -- Chicago can easily see a difference of 120°F between the warmest moment of summer and the coldest moment of winter, and usually sees at least 100&degF difference. If these bridges don't have expansion joints, they either buckle when they expand too much, or separate when they shrink too much, and if it's a fixed joint, you could break things. So, there isn't a fixed joint there. The expansion joint is built to handle that, and that's why it spilt there -- it's the place the bridge deck is supposed to move.

It just wasn't supposed to go up.

If the problem was that they just drew the rods too taut, then it's an easy fix -- it'll take time, but easy to do. If the problem is that the rods are expanding and contracting far more than expected, they may need to replace some or all of them, and that could take a great deal of time and money.

And interesting question -- we just got our first real cold snap down here at the foot of Lake Michigan. So, I'm wondering, is this also the first real cold snap there?
posted by eriko at 2:24 PM on January 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


eriko: That is how I was reading that picture, too. Pulled up by the contracting rods, with a nudge from a stiff wind from underneath, as reported in the article.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:29 PM on January 11, 2016


Perhaps I should have been more explicit that the route I found is in no way a reasonable alternative to the Trans-Canada, or even to a detour through the US. I am fully aware that actually trying to use this route as an alternative to the Trans-Canada in January is madness.

I just wanted to provide a counterclaim to the notion that this bridge is the only link between two otherwise discrete national road networks on either side. In a strict topological sense, this is false. Practically, on the other hand, I fully acknowledge the reality is different.

It's also good to remember that folks who live east of the bridge no longer even have passenger rail service to use to get to bigger centres like Thunder Bay west of the bridge.

It's pretty shameful what we have let happen to passenger rail in this country.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 2:40 PM on January 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


The tension in those stay rods needs to be monitored and the rods lengthened/shortened as necessary when it passes a set threshold. I'm kind of surprised that isn't already the case when these bridges are constructed where there are temperature extremes.
But I'm not a Civil Engineer (although I am an engineer).
posted by rocket88 at 2:43 PM on January 11, 2016


BTW, the idea that the Tacoma Narrows failure was the result of a resonance is false. It was flutter and while it was in response to the wind, it wasn't because the wind caused the bridge to resonate.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:03 PM on January 11, 2016 [7 favorites]


is this also the first real cold snap there?

From what I can tell from the last few weeks of data, yes, it is. It's been unseasonably mild through to last week and only turned colder in the last few days apparently. Best I can tell from the local temperature records, it hit lows of -20C last week with -23C the night it failed. Harder to find reliable wind data at the bridge site; the local weather station is quite a ways inland.
posted by bonehead at 3:31 PM on January 11, 2016


There's only one road across your country? And it's broken?

You guys should just make it official and apply for statehood.
posted by indubitable at 5:39 PM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


You know what's really neat? This bridge was (and it's replacement will be) the Bridge to Everywhere!
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:18 PM on January 11, 2016


You guys should just make it official and apply for statehood

I'll take a broken road over a broken everything else, thankyouverymuch.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 6:58 PM on January 11, 2016 [21 favorites]


Every country on earth just updated their "How to cripple Canada before invasion" planning. Gambia, Iceland, Philippines, Tuvalu, Estonia, New Zealand etc.....

So you know that the impassable, blackfly-infested muskeg is where we have our cottages and hunt camps right? It might just turn out that we don't need that bridge (or the similarly single-point-of-failure section of TCH between Kenora and the Ontario-Manitoba border) quite as badly as the invading forces would. Just saying...
posted by kiwano at 9:13 PM on January 11, 2016


It was hard to sleep last night, thinking about how people out west aren't getting their Amazon Prime packages. And what's going to happen when I run out of canola oil?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:18 AM on January 12, 2016


Planes and trains are still a thing, penguin.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:02 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


Ships even (Thunder Bay is a pretty big port).
posted by bonehead at 10:05 AM on January 12, 2016


Thunder Bay is a pretty big port

My cousin's wedding photos on the Thunder Bay waterfront featured big freighters at anchor as the backdrop!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:46 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]




The Globe and Mail's infographic in the above story is pretty helpful:

"1,300 trucks and $100 million worth of goods pass over the bridge daily."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:32 PM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]


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